Situation Impossible is a weekly column focusing on the most devastating injury of the week in the NFL. “Next Man Up” is a catchy phrase, but some players are harder to replace than others. Here we investigate the alternatives on hand and how a team reacted or will react to having to replace star-level performance.

Injured player: Andy Dalton, the enigmatic breakthrough quarterback we’ve discussed at length this season.

Injury and diagnosis: Dalton fractured his throwing thumb making a tackle in Sunday’s game against the Steelers. Of course, injuries are not that simple, and there are different types of thumb fractures. The best-case scenario would have been a non-displaced fracture. Dalton met with a specialist Monday and said specialist determined that he didn’t need surgery.

We’re reading the tea leaves on this one. It’s important that Dalton didn’t have surgery, and initial reports were much more pessimistic. It’s also possible that the Bengals may be playing ~*~*MIND GAMEZ*~*~ with their opponents by making them prepare for a playoff Dalton that won’t exist. A fractured thumb is not a tough rehab or anything, so they could just be delaying surgery until the offseason.

READ MORE: Cam Newton’s Uphill Battle to Be NFL MVP

For a better grasp on how this injury would affect Dalton, try lifting a cup to your mouth with your primary hand. Now try doing it with just your four fingers. Now realize that a cup is easier to grasp than a football.

What’s missing: Statistically, Dalton is having an impressive season. He’s second in DVOA, third in DYAR, and third in QBR. We’d be hearing talk about him as an MVP candidate if he weren’t, you know, Andy Dalton.

Even if you believe those numbers misrepresent the player that Dalton is, he’s still a solid-to-good quarterback. That’s a commodity not every NFL team is able to employ on a weekly basis—and one whose absence would damage Cincy’s playoff seeding and chances of advancing.

What the team will do: A.J. McCarron, best known as Alabama’s caretaker quarterback, will get a chance to caretake a new dominant offense. The Bengals drafted him in the fifth round last year. He wasted no time in comparing himself to Tom Brady, which is a totally realistic expectation to set.

McCarron actually does have a high LCF projection based on his college statistics. But, of course, LCF stats are only supposed to apply for highly drafted quarterbacks. Players like Landry Jones have had high projections, been picked late, and not done much to justify the system’s love for them.

I do think that McCarron’s debut proves that the Bengals can successfully run an offense without Dalton. It won’t be as good an offense, of course—McCarron is in no way ready to erase third-and-8 or third-and-9—but if the Bengals can stay on schedule in the down count, they can manage McCarron’s strengths.

Oh, and Keith Wenning is on an NFL roster again. Go Ball State Cardinals!

Surely A.J. McCarron can beat the 49ers. Photo by Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Adjusting our expectations: The Bengals are going to make the playoffs. I know there are some nightmare scenarios out there, but playing the 49ers and the Ravens will be enough to keep Cincinnati in the running no matter how bad McCarron is.

As for their ultimate fate? That’s a question that requires a lot more searching. The Bengals won’t be catching the Patriots for the No. 1 seed. The No. 2 seed might still be in reach if they can beat Denver or if Denver struggles with Pittsburgh. Given how the playoff picture has shaken out, the Bengals are better off falling to the No. 5 seed than winning the No. 3 seed. The AFC South champion is going to be a true patsy, and any lingering doubts about Dalton that could use another week will, essentially, get it.

My wish for this Bengals team had been to get to the end of the season with everything intact. It’s brutal that it didn’t happen, but football is a brutal sport. If Dalton doesn’t come back, this team, in my mind, will join the 2011 Houston Texans: great all-around teams felled by an injury at quarterback that forced an unready player into the lineup. They don’t stand much of a chance against the upper crust of the AFC without Dalton.

Can they manage enough to get Dalton healthy for the Divisional Round? Sure. Especially if they can maneuver the last three weeks to avoid the 3-6 game. The second wild card winner, be they the Steelers, the Chiefs, or the Jets, could create problems for Cincy.

This all comes down to how hurt Dalton’s thumb is. Cincinnati has every reason to play it close to the vest, which is why all we have right now is guesswork.

The Bengals have about a month to get Dalton right. Hopefully, by then he’ll be healthy enough so we watch the best version of this Bengals vintage get tested.